Waste to Energy has significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to produce valuable assets. Capturing greenhouse gases like methane on the one side and producing energy in form of electricity and/or heat on the other side is in any case a win-win situation: “benefiting our environment, energy independency and national finances”, says Henrik Personn of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre.
In light of this, the Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP), the project support a study, Potential Study on Producible Biogas and Renewable Energy from Biomass and Organic Waste in Belize, in conjunction with GIZ’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance (REETA) Project.
There are large amounts of biomass resources available in Belize which have significant potential to produce biogas. A suitable use of the biogas in Belize is to convert the biogas into power and heat through a combined heat and power engine. All reported biomass resources have biogas production potential, but due to available amounts, banana and sewer waste were selected to describe a best-practice bio-gas system.
The report estimates 232 MWh of power, 328 MWh of heat and 3,766 ton of hot water will be produced yearly by establishing a central digester using banana waste, and 192 MWh of power, 270 MWh of heat and 3,106 ton of hot water will be produced yearly by establishing a biogas plan using sewer waste in Belmopan.
